Epidemiologists deal with dry facts and figures, but the subject matter of those facts and figures can be very dramatic: illness and death, and how best to go about minimizing the former and delaying the latter. Usually we don’t pay … Continue reading →
There are a great many highly important facts about COVID-19 that are unknown. Many of us know they are unknown, but many people think they are known. An obvious one is the case fatality rate from the disease. It only … Continue reading →
Now that WHO has declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it’s time for a definition. The word “pandemic” can describe extreme situations like that in 1918, or milder situations that we barely remember, with far fewer deaths. If you look at the … Continue reading →
I keep seeing and hearing references to the supposed fact that COVID-19 is known to be spread by asymptomatic people infected with the virus, in addition of course to symptomatic people. It was one of the first things I heard … Continue reading →
DNA testing has a few pitfalls, the best-known of which is probably potential privacy issues. At this point, unless a person posts results on one of the unprotected sites, I think privacy isn’t a big concern, although it certainly could … Continue reading →
I’ve written several posts already, trying to offer the main facts so far as they emerge. But I see so much stuff out there that’s not only obvious fear-mongering, but just plain incorrect. It’s true that we don’t yet know … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Part I can be found here.] While musing about COVID-19, I wondered whether the virus really is novel. Perhaps it’s been around for a while and just wasn’t causing all that many deaths and therefore wasn’t even noticed until … Continue reading →
Recently there’s been some talk (including in the comments on this blog) of a theory that high doses of aspirin played a key role in exacerbating the number of deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic: The high case-fatality rate—especially among … Continue reading →
[NOTE: I’ve decided this needs to be at least a two-parter, because there’s so much to be said. Here’s Part I.] I haven’t written too many posts on the new coronavirus (COVID-19) because we know quite little, and much of … Continue reading →
This is a Canadian story, but it’s often the case that the US follows close on Canada’s heels with PC legal rulings. So here’s what it’s about: For the past 11 months, Robert Hoogland, a father in Surrey, British Columbia, … Continue reading →
It’s pretty well-established that early humans outside of Africa mated with Neanderthals. For example, through DNA testing, I learned that I have an only slightly less-than-average share of Neanderthal myself. Now we learn that people of west African heritage have … Continue reading →
Some people have advanced a theory to explain Iran’s failure to do damage to US personnel in Iraq in this latest attack: the Iranians missed on purpose. Well, maybe. But others strongly disagree: The top US general made clear Wednesday … Continue reading →